# Taíno mythology

Taíno mythology is the body or collection of myths of the Taíno in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and the Greater Antilles. The Island Arawak-speaking Taino recorded their mythology in communal sacred performances called areitos which are mostly lost. Areitos involved complex elaborations in dance, music, oratory, fabric, and trance. They also performed areitos for important social events like harvest time and births, marriages, and deaths of chiefs.
Taino religious practice was centered on veneration of zemis, ancestors, and mythic heroes within a perception that had no distinction between natural and supernatural. Zemis generally held away over specific natural domains, processes, rhythms, and resources. Yucahu, son of mother goddess Atabey, for example, was the god of cassava or yucca, the primary food source of the Taino. Opiyelguobiran, the soul dog, ferried dead souls between realms. Religion was administered by priests (behikes or bohikes), and chiefs or kasikes (cacique) also played important roles. Chiefs like Anacaona for example, were poets and musicians who actively contributed to the mythic archive of areitos.
The first European account of Taino mythology was recorded by Friar Ramón Pané, in his Relación acerca de las antigüedades de los indios. The text is fairly disordered due to what it has undergone through history: Pané himself could only speak Macorix, another indigenous language of Hispaniola, and had to work with a translator who could speak Macorix, Taino, and basic Spanish. A kasike performed the material for the translator in ritual fashion, and since the translator was Macorix and couldn't grasp the subtleties of the presentation, this caused more distortion. Further, Pané's original text is lost, and modern versions work from a later Italian translation.
The Taino believed they originated from a cave called Cacibajagua. As such, caves were important ritual sites, though there doesn't appear to be evidence of long-term inhabitation. The Taino ball courts or bateyes were also important ritual and cultural sites both within and outside the context of sport. The Taino believed that the exit from the originary cave preceded heroic sailing journeys with mystical elements, perhaps reflecting knowledge of the original settlement of the Caribbean island chain by canoe (for Arawaks, from the Orinoco, and for the Guanahatabey, from the Yucatán).
While alluvial gold was present in the Antilles, a highly-prized alloy of gold, silver, and copper called guanin had to be imported, since there was no smelting culture. Guanin had various connections to Taino sacred aesthetics due to its luster, color, and smell, as well as coming from the mainland, causing it to be highly prized. Sacred stools or duhos, ceremonial emesis-inducers ('vomit sticks') and zemi depictions were laminated with guanin, for example. Guanin was also the name of a mythic island visited by Guahuyona, a hero of myth. The Taino related to Columbus and Pané that a dark-skinned people from mainland South America brought them guanin: these people had guanin spear-tips. The material left a lasting impression on the Taino, but they didn't adopt the material for weaponry.
An important ritual component of behikes, kasikes, and certain nobles or nitainos was the insufflation of hallucinogenic substances. The cohoba ritual was preceded by ritual purification with fasting, river bathing, and the use of sacred 'vomit sticks.' The practice involved a perception of lineage continuity back to the hallowed first priest, Loko (Louquo for mainland Arawaks). Knowledge was gained from ancestors and zemis in this practice, since the behike had to have a large and sophisticated arsenal to handle issues brought to him by clients. Immaterial connections to the mythic past could yield insight, for example, into a specific plant that might be needed for a given circumstance, or a specific technique in relation to a plant (the removal of cyanide from cassava by sluice, for example).
There was a realm of zemis, a realm of the living, and a realm of the dead called Coaibai. This tripartite division was reflected in the sculpting of trigonolite zemi amulets which could adorn the head, chest, or bicep. Dead souls or hupia could move between the living and dead realms, particularly at night. You could tell them apart from humans by their lack of belly button. The Taino tended to walk in pairs or greater at night, since hupia only appeared to individuals.
While Taino mythology or religion is a cogent entity, it's important to keep in mind the internal diversity of Island Arawak religion. The so-called Classic Taino had distinct but overlapping beliefs from the Igneri. Both also existed alongside non-Arawakan religions and cultures like the Kalinago or Igneri, the Macorix, the Siwayo or Ciguayo, and the Guanahatabey.
As well, Taino religion developed over time. Columbus encountered a situation where the Taino culture of the Xaragua cacicazgo was the most elite, so their religion and values dominated in Hispaniola. But this wasn't always the case. Just as we can trace an evolution in Island Arawak pottery (shown in the work of Irving Rouse, Samuel Wilson, and others), we can expect a similar process in mythology and religion.
The duho or chief stool is one of the most sacred objects of elite Taino culture. Interestingly, the word itself is not of Arawak origin. It comes from Warao duhu, meaning ‘sit, stool.’ Warao is a language isolate, and its speakers inhabit the Orinoco Delta region, from which Island Arawak speakers originally migrated to settle in the Caribbean. As such, we can consider Langberry & Vescelius (2004) who claim that this indicates a possible cultural exchange or point of contact between Warao and Island Arawak speakers, but not an extensive one since there are only a few Warao-origin words in Taino. However, though not extensive, the interaction may have been significant, given the resulting ritual importance of the duho for Taino people. This is one example of change in Taino religion due to time and encounter.
Prominent Taíno deities include:
* Atabey
* Guabancex
* Yúcahu
Post-Columbus developments like Haitian Vodou and Dominican Vudu (21 Divisions) reserve a place for zemis and mythic Taino heroes in the 'Indian nation' or 'Indian division,' which include figures like the kasike and rebel queen against the Spaniards Anacaona and the first behike or houngan Loco (loa).